GA Devil Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 (edited) According to TSN.ca: NHL, NHLPA reach tentative CBA deal TSN.ca Staff with CP files 7/13/2005 2:49:02 PM And now for the words everyone has been waiting to hear: The deal is done! The NHL and NHL Players' Association have finally reached an agreement (pending ratification) on a new six-year collective bargaining agreement that - if approved by the NHL board of governors next Thursday and the rank and file membership of the NHLPA next Tuesday - will officially end the stalemate on July 21. The agreement, a complex document reportedly numbering more than 600 pages, came after the two sides staged marathon negotiating sessions for nine consecutive days. Since the 2004-05 NHL season was officially cancelled on Feb. 16, the league and union have met on 82 occasions, leading to an agreement that will revamp the way the entire professional hockey industry conducts its business. The league went into this lockout, which started on Sept. 15, 2004, seeking cost certainty and believes it has achieved that with a new economic system from top to bottom. It is expected both the NHL and NHLPA will move to ratify the agreement within the next seven days, with a formal announcement on July 21. During that time, it is expected the new CBA will be distributed to all in the hockey industry so they can begin getting themselves up to speed on a myriad of new rules and regulations. Among the most significant features are: - a hard team-by-team salary cap with a payroll of range of $21 million to $39 million (in the first year), which includes all player costs (benefits, insurance etc). - the league's total expenditure on player costs (salaries, bonuses, benefits and insurance) is not permitted to exceed 54 per cent of defined hockey-related revenue and the salary cap and payroll range will move up or down as revenues increase or decrease each year of the deal. - a 24 per-cent salary rollback for any NHL player who has time remaining on an existing contract, keeping in mind that the players will receive none of the monies they were slated to earn in the lost season of 2004-05. - liberalized free agency (including unrestricted status at 27 by year four of the deal), a more restrictive entry level system, totally revamped salary arbitration, improved pension benefits and a revenue-sharing plan. - Age eligibility for unrestricted free agency at age 31 in 2005, 29 in 2006, 28 in 2007. In 2008, it's 27 or seven years of NHL tenure. This agreement (pending ratification) will kick off the most bizarre and busiest off-season in NHL history after the league became the first major professional loop to lose an entire year to labour strife. As tutorials are conducted to allow NHL owners, general managers, NHL players and player agents to understand the new economic order, plans are already in the works for the two ratification votes. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will be recommending acceptance of this agreement to the governors, so a simple majority of the league's 30-man ruling body will be enough to ratify it. It's also expected the NHLPA's executive committee, led by president Trevor Linden, will be endorsing the deal, which means a simple majority of the NHLPA's more than 700 members will be enough to make it binding. For those players who cannot physically make it to the membership meeting, the vote will be conducted through the NHLPA's secure website, The Source. "I don't think the deal that we're going to get would have been ratified last summer," said Sean Burke, a free agent like many of his brethren. "But I just think we've been worn down to the point where at this stage the deal would really have to be incredibly bad for the guys not to vote it in. At least that's the sense I'm getting." Assuming both groups ratify, the NHL is expected to begin a brief transition period before the league fully re-opens for business. But before teams and players start to concern themselves with the specifics of transition - such as the buying out of some players to allow teams to meet cap requirements or the attempted signing of 2003 and 2004 draft picks who would re-enter the 2005 entry draft if not signed - the league is expected to unveil significant changes to the game, on and off the ice. Because no season was played in 2004-05, there is no order of selection for the 2005 entry draft, which is scheduled to take place as a scaled-down event in Ottawa's Westin Hotel on July 30. Usually, teams draft in inverse order of finish from the recently-concluded season, but this time there will be a weighted draft lottery (with the teams who have fared poorest over the last few years to get marginally better odds than those who fared well) to determine who gets the first overall pick and the right to pick young phenom Sidney Crosby. That lottery is scheduled to take place on July 21 when the NHL is expected to formally announce the new CBA. When it comes to 2003 draft picks, like Philadelphia's highly-touted first-rounders Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, those players will be eligible for the 2003 rookie limit, with a 24% rollback, along with performance bonuses that can total $850,000. This gives those players incentive to sign with the team that drafted them in 2003 rather than re-enter the 2005 draft. In addition to that major business, the NHL is also expected to unveil significant rule changes aimed at making the game more exciting and fan friendly, including shootouts to end tie games and the removal of the red line for the purpose of allowing two-line passes. While the regular season will remain at 82 games long for each team, the format of that schedule may be altered. Once the NHL's formal news conference is put to bed, along with the lottery and rule changes, the brief transition period should unfold in order to take care of the loose ends from the expired CBA. At some point, the NHL will declare itself open for business and NHL teams will be sorting through a huge pool of unrestricted free agents as many teams make themselves over from the ground up. Whether it is the brave new world the NHL hopes, remains to be seen, but the level of activity and uncertainty will be higher than at any other time in league history. For now, though, the only thing that matters in the short term is this: The deal (pending ratification) is done. The lockout wiped out the entire 2004-05 season, including all 1,230 regular-season games, denying hockey fans a Stanley Cup champion for the first time since a flu epidemic cancelled the 1919 final. The NHL became the first major professional league in North America to loose a season from beginning to end because of labour strife. Once Bettman announced the season cancelled Feb. 16, both sides returned to the negotiating table March 11 in the first of 44 meetings aimed at making sure the 2005-06 season wouldn't be delayed. The two sides met every single week starting in early May and didn't let up until the end, cramming in long days in the final six weeks in an effort to finally get it done. http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=130274&hubName=nhl Edited July 13, 2005 by RD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSkirt Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Finally ! To be ratified by July 21. Draft to be held on July 31. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 (edited) NHL, NHLPA reach tentative deal TSN.ca Staff http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=130274 7/13/2005 12:38:41 PM And now for the words everyone has been waiting to hear: The deal is done! The NHL and NHL Players' Association have finally reached an agreement (pending ratification) on a new six-year collective bargaining agreement that - if approved by the NHL board of governors next Thursday and the rank and file membership of the NHLPA next Tuesday - will officially end the stalemate on July 21. The agreement, a complex document reportedly numbering more than 600 pages, came after the two sides staged marathon negotiating sessions for nine consecutive days. Since the 2004-05 NHL season was officially cancelled on Feb. 16, the league and union have met on 82 occasions, leading to an agreement that will revamp the way the entire professional hockey industry conducts its business. The league went into this lockout, which started on Sept. 15, 2004, seeking cost certainty and believes it has achieved that with a new economic system from top to bottom. It is expected both the NHL and NHLPA will move to ratify the agreement within the next seven days, with a formal announcement on July 21. During that time, it is expected the new CBA will be distributed to all in the hockey industry so they can begin getting themselves up to speed on a myriad of new rules and regulations. Among the most significant are: - a hard team-by-team salary cap with a payroll of range of $21 million to $39 million (in the first year), which includes all player costs (benefits, insurance etc). - the league's total expenditure on player costs (salaries, bonuses, benefits and insurance) is not permitted to exceed 54 per cent of defined hockey-related revenue and the salary cap and payroll range will move up or down as revenues increase or decrease each year of the deal. - a 24 per-cent salary rollback for any NHL player who has time remaining on an existing contract, keeping in mind that the players will receive none of the monies they were slated to earn in the lost season of 2004-05. - liberalized free agency (including unrestricted status at 27 by year four of the deal), a more restrictive entry level system, totally revamped salary arbitration, improved pension benefits and a revenue-sharing plan. This agreement (pending ratification) will kick off the most bizarre and busiest off-season in NHL history after the league became the first major professional loop to lose an entire year to labour strife. As tutorials are conducted to allow NHL owners, general managers, NHL players and player agents to understand the new economic order, plans are already in the works for the two ratification votes. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will be recommending acceptance of this agreement to the governors, so a simple majority of the league's 30-man ruling body will be enough to ratify it. It's also expected the NHLPA's executive committee, led by president Trevor Linden, will be endorsing the deal, which means a simple majority of the NHLPA's more than 700 members will be enough to make it binding. For those players who cannot physically make it to the membership meeting, the vote will be conducted through the NHLPA's secure website, The Source. Assuming both groups ratify, the NHL is expected to begin a brief transition period before the league fully re-opens for business. But before teams and players start to concern themselves with the specifics of transition - such as the buying out of some players to allow teams to meet cap requirements or the attempted signing of 2003 and 2004 draft picks who would re-enter the 2005 entry draft if not signed - the league is expected to unveil significant changes to the game, on and off the ice. Because no season was played in 2004-05, there is no order of selection for the 2005 entry draft, which is scheduled to take place as a scaled-down event in Ottawa on July 30. Usually, teams draft in inverse order of finish from the recently-concluded season, but this time there will be a weighted draft lottery (with the teams who have fared poorest over the last few years to get marginally better odds than those who fared well) to determine who gets the first overall pick and the right to pick young phenom Sidney Crosby. That lottery is scheduled to take place on July 21 when the NHL is expected to formally announce the new CBA. In addition to that major business, the NHL is also expected to unveil significant rule changes aimed at making the game more exciting and fan friendly, including shootouts to end tie games and the removal of the red line for the purpose of allowing two-line passes. While the regular season will remain at 82 games long for each team, the format of that schedule may be altered, along with a potential expansion of the NHL playoffs from 16 to 20 teams. Once the NHL's formal news conference is put to bed, along with the lottery and rule changes, the brief transition period should unfold in order to take care of the loose ends from the expired CBA. At some point, the NHL will declare itself open for business and NHL teams will be sorting through a huge pool of unrestricted free agents as many teams make themselves over from the ground up. Whether it is the brave new world the NHL hopes, remains to be seen, but the level of activity and uncertainty will be higher than at any other time in league history. For now, though, the only thing that matters in the short term is this: The deal (pending ratification) is done. Edited July 13, 2005 by Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Can someone merge this into the NHL.com thread? Sorry about that. Got carried away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 (edited) And the idea that this would be the #1 news story of the day given that there is no baseball.... died. The #1 story at ESPN is "British Open Starts Tomorrow". But here are the details according to Hradek. If you want to believe him.... http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?id=2106921 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- In his Insider Weblog, ESPN The Magazine's E.J. Hradek -- with the help of key sources on both sides of the table -- offered a look at some of the expected terms: Term: Six years. Salary rollback: All remaining contracts will be rolled back 24 percent. The rollback will also impact players who must be given qualifying offers for new deals. Those qualifying offers will be based on a player's salary in his last contracted year, minus the 24 percent rollback. 2004-05 contracts: Those contracts will simply disappear from the ledger. Players, however, will be credited with a "year of service." Years of service can determine a player's free-agent status. Salary cap: Each team must meet a minimum, but not exceed a maximum payroll number. For the 2005-06 season, the high-end threshold will be approximately $37-$39.5 million. The low-end threshold will be between $21.5-$24.5 million. The numbers are based on the league's projection of revenue for the 2005-06 season. The projection is approximately $1.7-$1.8 billion. According to the league, total revenues for the last complete season (2003-04) were $2.1 billion. If revenues increase, the salary cap thresholds will increase on a season-to-season basis. If revenues decrease, the salary cap thresholds will decrease on a season-to-season basis. Buyouts: Teams will be allowed a window of time to buyout player contracts. A player can be bought out for two-thirds of the total remaining value of his contract, minus the 24 percent rollback. A team will not be allowed to re-sign a player they have bought out for a still to be determined amount of time. The money spent to buyout a player will NOT count against the salary cap. Escrow: A still to be determined percent of players salaries will be placed in an escrow account. In the new deal, league-wide payroll can't exceed 54 percent of total league-wide revenue. If league-wide payroll is determined to be more than 54 percent of revenues, the escrow account will be passed back to the clubs. If league-wide payroll is determined to be less than 54 percent of revenues, the escrow account will go to the players. Individual team-by-team player cap: No single player can earn more than 20 percent of his team's total payroll. For example, a team with a total team payroll of $37.5 million couldn't pay a single player more than $7.5 million. Revenue-sharing: The top 10 revenue clubs will contribute to a pool that will be redistributed to the bottom 10 revenue clubs. The NHLPA proposed a similar revenue sharing component in 1994 during the league's first lockout. Unrestricted free agency: It will remain frozen at age 31 for the first year of the new CBA. It will gradually decrease to age 28 during the life of the deal. Salary arbitration: The club and the player will both have ability to elect to go to arbitration. Although not confirmed, I believe NHL will go to a baseball-style arbitration system that calls for both sides to submit a salary figure and an arbitrator to decide on one number or the other. There will be a limit on the number of times a team or player can go to arbitration. And, the clubs will have a limited number of times they can walk away from an arbitrator's decision. Under the old system, the clubs could not take players to arbitration. Qualifying offers: Players making less than $660,000 must be tendered qualifying offers of 110 percent of their final contracted season's salary. Players making between $660,000.01 and $1 million must be tendered qualifying offers of 105 percent of their final contracted season's salary. Players making over $1 million must be tendered qualifying offers of 100 percent of their final contracted season's salary. Entry level contracts: Entry level contracts will be capped $850,000 per season, with a maximum signing bonus at 10 percent of salary per season. The contracts will be three years in length. Minimum salary: The minimum salary will be $400,000. Under the old agreement, the league minimum was $175,000. 2006 Winter Olympics: The NHL will shut down operations in February 2006 to allow players to participate in the Winter Olympics. To accommodate the scheduling issues, the league will cancel its 2005-06 All-Star Weekend (scheduled for Phoenix). Edited July 13, 2005 by Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Puddy Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 I worry about the extreme lowering of the UFA age, but I'm not considering the effects of the cap. It won't be a free-for-all on UFAs anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hattrick Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 (edited) I'm cautiously elated but let's wait and see ratification from both sides. It better get ratified. Edited July 13, 2005 by hattrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 I worry about the extreme lowering of the UFA age, but I'm not considering the effects of the cap. It won't be a free-for-all on UFAs anymore. I too am worried. Most guys don't JOIN the league until they are in their twenties, so start at 22, play 5 years, become UFA. Ick. But maybe the Mogilny's of the world will choose to stay in New Jersey if there aren't big bucks teams throwing money his way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JesterDevil Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 In the words of the great Peter Griffin - "Frickin' Sweet!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Devil Posted July 13, 2005 Author Share Posted July 13, 2005 ESPN has changed their front page. NHL is front and center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundstrom Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 I worry about the extreme lowering of the UFA age, but I'm not considering the effects of the cap. It won't be a free-for-all on UFAs anymore. I too am worried. Most guys don't JOIN the league until they are in their twenties, so start at 22, play 5 years, become UFA. Ick. But maybe the Mogilny's of the world will choose to stay in New Jersey if there aren't big bucks teams throwing money his way. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> as discussed a million times, lou never offered a contract for mogilny to walk away from. also, lowering of UFA is not a bad thing. with more players on the market and a salary cap in place, you'll find supply is much higher and therefore it will be in most players best interest to sign long term deals that will bring them past UFA. of course some players will move because of money or just the desire to be in a different location or on a different team, but i really don't think it'll be like each team is starting off with a whole new roster every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 as discussed a million times, lou never offered a contract for mogilny to walk away from. As discussed a million times, Lou usually tells people to go out and find what the market will bear. Plus my example was simply to say that high priced free agents may not get $$$$ deals thrown at them, and they may decide to stay where they are. Maybe Mogilny wasn't the perfect example, but I think most knew what I was getting at. also, lowering of UFA is not a bad thing. with more players on the market and a salary cap in place, you'll find supply is much higher and therefore it will be in most players best interest to sign long term deals that will bring them past UFA. We've been through THIS a million times before. By lowering the UFA age, you increase both the supply of FA, but also the number of roster spots needing to be filled. Supply goes up, but demand goes up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundstrom Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 We've been through THIS a million times before. By lowering the UFA age, you increase both the supply of FA, but also the number of roster spots needing to be filled. Supply goes up, but demand goes up too. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> demand for spots, not for dollars. it's very different. if every team needs to fill 5-8 spots a year, you're gonna see a lot of guys re-signing with the same team as the money elsewhere will most likely not be much better than it is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJD Jester Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 The UFA thing kills me. I wonder how all of those "small market" fans will react when their star player STILL bolts to Detroit or New York (albeit for less money than in the past), only this time he leaves three years before he could have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDog2020 Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 This is great!! My best friend is getting married on the 22nd- it's the first wedding I've actually been in. It would be just incredible to have hockey officially back and then my friend's wedding the next day!! Even more cause to get royally smashed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 (edited) The UFA thing kills me. I wonder how all of those "small market" fans will react when their star player STILL bolts to Detroit or New York (albeit for less money than in the past), only this time he leaves three years before he could have. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> As opposed to the team having to trade/sell them off before they get arb-eligible and long before they get to 31 anyway? As much as I've been an owner guy throughout the lockout, the owners couldn't get every little thing, the players had to get SOME things. The owners were going to get a cap and a 24% rollback and whatnot, the owners got the win they needed to have, they didn't need to be gratuitous and try to give back nothing. The players did get some things, they got independent auditing to determine revenues, they got more of a hand in determining the future of the game with this new executive committee, they got to control their destiny a little earlier in their career with the lowering of the UFA. From what little I know about the new CBA, both sides got a lot of what they should have gotten, too bad it took a bloody year to get to this point but at least both sides did get something out of the deal and losing the year wasn't in total vein. And I don't know about players 'coming into the league at 22' our own Scott Gomez came in at 18, Nash came in at 18 or 19, players get drafted at about that age, most stay in the minors a couple years then come up, so teams should still have 6-7 years with the player. And money won't be quite the factor it was in the past both in keeping players and in teams having to trade/sell off players. Edited July 13, 2005 by Hasan4978 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Yes, but Gomez was an exception. And the Blue Jackets had no choice but to bring in Nash at a young age. At 12 he was better than most of the players on their team. I just read that extra stipulation on the end of that paragraph. It's not UFA at 27, period. It's 27 or 7 years experience. So Gomez will be an UFA at 25. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Well that kinda sucks Although in a perverse way it's at least another caveat that guarantees the players won't reject it We have kinda been spoiled with the 31-old UFA system though, all other sports have free agency much earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Yes, but Gomez was an exception. And the Blue Jackets had no choice but to bring in Nash at a young age. At 12 he was better than most of the players on their team.I just read that extra stipulation on the end of that paragraph. It's not UFA at 27, period. It's 27 or 7 years experience. So Gomez will be an UFA at 25. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> At the end of what paragraph? I don't see that anywhere above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 (edited) At the end of what paragraph? I don't see that anywhere above. Bolded section of top article in the thread. Last point. Edited July 13, 2005 by Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 At the end of what paragraph? I don't see that anywhere above. Bolded section of top article in the thread. Last point. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I kept reading the second article for some reason. I had no idea what you were talking about. Well, that explains it. I'm not upset that Gomez is eligible for UFA as of 2008. There will be many other players who will also be eligible who could be signed. If he wants to leave, that's his right. That's the bargain you make to get the cap. This could be baseball where there is NO cap but free agency after what, 3 or 5 years? The Devils got a lot from him already. I'd like to see him stay but I'm not going to scream if he doesn't. I just don't want him to say, "It wasn't about the money" if he signs someplace for more $$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Best part: Assuming the deal gets ratified, there'll be a trivia contest this year! Woo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Best part: Assuming the deal gets ratified, there'll be a trivia contest this year! Woo! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I better start rounding up the prizes now, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halfsharkalligatorhalfman Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 wow the players got done dirty. AS THEY SHOULD HAVE. thank god the players were too stubborn to take the last ditch attempted deal with a month to go in the season, this deal could actually give the NHL a chance to succeed. how sad is that though, that we have to hope the NHL doesn't collapse? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 how sad is that though, that we have to hope the NHL doesn't collapse? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> How sad is it that we had to deal with this sh!tty lockout in the first place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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